In Conversation with Mallrat
[UNPUBLISHED]: What’s the story behind your stage name Mallrat?
[MALLRAT]: Unfortunately, it’s not a very interesting story! Grace was taken because there are so many people named Grace who do music, especially in Australia. I liked that Mallrat felt 90s, a bit punk and androgynous, like a surf rock band, that people wouldn’t know what to expect unless they listened to it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Do you see it as a source of empowerment and confidence?
[MALLRAT]: I think a name stops being important in any circumstance once that first impression wears off and you’ve had a few experiences. The name loses its meaning right away. It’s really about first impressions. For me, the thing about the name that I connect with is that it’s a bit scruffy and 90s. That matches my style. But I’m not one of those people who has a different altar ego, even though that would be really cool.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How do you usually approach the music-making process from initial inspiration to finished product? Do you work with other producers and songwriters?
[MALLRAT]: Sometimes the song will start as lyrics written down or it’ll start as a melody in my voice memos. But a lot of the time, it starts as an instrumental that either I’ve made, a producer has made, or we created together. It’s different every time, which is what is so fun about it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What do you find rewarding about collaboration versus solo work?
[MALLRAT]: There’s so much to learn still. That’s what I find so exciting about working with other people. I love asking them what plugins they’ve been using lately, what’s their process. I like to watch really closely and ask a lot of questions and borrow little bits of what I like and try it out in my own way later. Working on my own, I like that it doesn’t have to make sense for a really long time. It can be just an interesting sound for ages and there’s no rush to accommodate if the other person in the room is hungry or something and trying to make it make sense.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Since you debuted onto the music scene, you’ve released 3 EPs, the first of which was recorded during your last year of high school. How did you juggle your school life and artist life during that time?
[MALLRAT]: I was a very good student up until I wanted to be a musician. I was hustling and let my studies go because I wanted to save up money to go to the studio or to fly to Melbourne. I was working a million different jobs. Before school, I would babysit this family from six until eight, walk them to school and then walk to my school, which would start at 8:30 and finish at 3. Then I would walk to this other baby-sitting job and that would go from 4 until 6. Then I would go to this tutoring job that was from 6:30 to 7:30, get home and sleep or do my assignments or more likely, make music. And then on days I wasn’t working, I would catch the train to the studio that was in a storage unit. I didn’t balance it very well to be honest.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Butterfly Blue will now be your debut studio album. How excited are you for this project to release?
[MALLRAT]: Incredibly excited! Definitely that feeling of being a little kid waiting for Christmas. I’m really excited to see people’s reactions to it, to be able to update people on what I’m capable of so it’s really exciting.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What was it like to work alongside Azealia Banks on the track “Surprise Me”?
[MALLRAT]: It was so cool to work with her! I really enjoyed that experience. I’ve always loved her music and thought she was super cool since I heard “212” when I was 12. A year or two ago, she was doing this livestream and she was playing my music in it! Someone sent it to me afterwards and she was like, “This is this girl Mallrat. She’s really cool. Actually, she’s got some really fucking good music,” and turned up my song “Charlie.” And my world just changed! Then I sent her this song a year after that and she was so cool. She recorded her verse and she kept being like, “Nah, I can do better, I’m gonna re-record it, I’m gonna add this outro.” She was incredible, so good to work with!
[UNPUBLISHED]: Has there been a live performance that you’re particularly proud of?
[MALLRAT]: The other week, I played this show in Perth and the show itself was very weird because it’d been rescheduled seven times because of COVID. Only about a quarter of the people who bought tickets actually showed up. It was a big, massive empty room. It felt really weird and I didn’t enjoy the show but I sang well. Every show is different. And sometimes, the really good ones are good for reasons that you can’t predict or engineer. There’s been a few in Dublin where I’ve just been laughing and crying on stage because of how incredible the crowd is out of nowhere. They have absolutely no reason to know me or be invested and they’re just turning up so hard. There’s been a few situations like that where I’m just like, “What the fuck is going on, this is so fun!”
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is one country that you haven’t yet played in but that you would love to?
[MALLRAT]: I would love to play in Japan! Also New Zealand.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How do you go about choosing what to wear on stage?
[MALLRAT]: What I like to wear are mini dresses that are super girly and thick platform boots. But then on the days where I wear track pants and sneakers, I tend to have better shows. So I’m trying to figure out if I should go with the thing that looks good or with the thing that leads to better shows. I should’ve figured that out by now but it’s confusing! But I do like to wear things that move with me. Flippy, ruffley mini skirts, skorts or dresses, and massive shoes.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What has been a performance outfit you’ve loved?
[MALLRAT]: My go-to lately, which I’ve worn way too much but I always know works, is this red set with a tiny skort that looks like a skirt and is all ruffly, and then this top that is long-sleeve and off the shoulder. I feel cute whenever I wear that. But it’s really getting a workout from me. It hasn’t been washed!
[UNPUBLISHED]: What do you do when you’re not making music?
[MALLRAT]: I like to read and I love clothes so I love online shopping or going to flea markets. Going for little walkies, listening to my music. I listen to my music before it comes out thousands and thousands of times and then once it comes out, I’m like, “Okay, I don’t really listen to this anymore.” I think if you’re not doing that, then make better music.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
[MALLRAT]: I discovered a species of spider when I was five years old. It was just luck, really. I was in the Family Friends Garden and I saw this spider and I showed my dad. And then we took it to the Queen’s Land Museum and they were like, “This is probably a new species.” And then they gave me a little certificate and I got to name it! I didn’t know what to name it so I called it Octavius. It’s this little green spider with black and white spots on its back. And it’s funny because I’ve grown up to love biology and insects and animals so I find it funny that that passion has always been there, even when I didn’t realize it.
